{"id":24246,"date":"2022-07-12T15:43:51","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=24246"},"modified":"2022-07-12T15:43:51","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:43:51","slug":"james-webb-captures-the-signature-of-water-on-exoplanet-wasp-96-b-a-dying-star-cloaked-by-dust-and-galaxy-cluster-stephans-quintet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2022\/07\/12\/james-webb-captures-the-signature-of-water-on-exoplanet-wasp-96-b-a-dying-star-cloaked-by-dust-and-galaxy-cluster-stephans-quintet\/","title":{"rendered":"James Webb captures the signature of water on exoplanet WASP 96-b, a dying star cloaked by dust, and galaxy cluster Stephan’s Quintet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humanity has got its earliest ever look at the dawn of the universe as a dazzling, unprecedented batch of images are revealed to the world for the first time.<\/p>\n

Billed as the ‘next giant leap in space astronomy’, they were taken by the new James Webb Space Telescope \u2014 a successor to the famous Hubble observatory \u2014 and are being released by\u00a0NASA\u00a0at a global press conference today.<\/p>\n

It puts an end to months of waiting and feverish anticipation as people across the globe are treated to a view that is actually more than 13 billion years in the making.<\/p>\n

Webb’s infrared capabilities mean it can ‘see back in time’ to within\u00a0a mere 100-200 million years of the Big Bang, allowing it to take pictures of the very first stars to shine in the universe.<\/p>\n

Its first images are of\u00a0nebulae, an exoplanet and galaxy clusters, on what has been hailed a ‘great day for humanity’.<\/p>\n

One spectacular picture captures a planetary nebula caused by a dying star \u2014\u00a0a fate that awaits our sun some time in the distant future.<\/p>\n

Nearly half a light-year in diameter and located approximately 2,500 light-years away from Earth, the Southern Ring Nebula can be seen in incredible never-before-seen detail.<\/p>\n

Another image is of\u00a0Stephan’s Quintet, which is located in the constellation Pegasus and is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877.<\/p>\n

Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters.<\/p>\n

Among the other pictures revealed is an analysis of the atmosphere of a giant planet outside our solar system called WASP-96 b \u2014 located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth.<\/p>\n

It is the first ever spectrum analysis of an exoplanet’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Webb captured the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding the hot, puffy gas giant planet, which orbits a distant sun-like star every 3.4 days.<\/p>\n

WASP-96 b has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014.<\/p>\n

While the Hubble Space Telescope has analysed numerous exoplanet atmospheres over the past two decades, capturing the first clear detection of water in 2013, NASA said that Webb’s immediate and more detailed observation marks a giant leap forward in the quest to characterize potentially habitable planets beyond Earth.<\/p>\n

Scroll down for video<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Humanity<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Humanity has got its earliest ever look at the dawn of the universe as a dazzling, unprecedented batch of images are revealed to the world for the first time. One image is of Stephan’s Quintet, which is located in the constellation Pegasus and is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Another<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another picture captures a planetary nebula caused by a dying star \u2014 a fate that awaits our sun some time in the distant future<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Two<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Webb<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Webb also analysed the atmosphere of a giant planet outside our solar system called WASP-96 b (pictured) \u2014 a giant gas located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth which orbits its star every 3.4 days<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Spectacular:<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Spectacular: Pictured is the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing SMACS 0723, a galaxy cluster billions of light-years from Earth. It was revealed to the world yesterday by US President Joe Biden<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

HOW DOES JAMES WEBB SEE BACK IN TIME?<\/h3>\n
\n

The further away an object is, the further back in time we are looking.<\/p>\n

This is because of the time it takes light to travel from the object to us.<\/p>\n

With James Webb’s larger mirror, it will be able to see almost the whole way back to the beginning of the universe, more than 13.5 billion years ago.<\/p>\n

With its ability to view the Universe in longer wavelength infrared light, James Webb will be capable of seeing some of the most distant galaxies in our universe, certainly with more ease than than the visible\/ultraviolet light view of Hubble.<\/p>\n

This is because light from distant objects is stretched out by the expansion of our universe – an effect known as redshift – pushing the light out of the visible range and into infrared.<\/p>\n

Source: Royal Museums Greenwich<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yesterday, US President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0previewed the main event as he unveiled one of Webb’s images that showed a cluster of galaxies 4 billion light-years away from Earth.<\/p>\n

This provided the deepest and sharpest infrared look at the distant universe to date, capturing the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.<\/p>\n

President Biden\u00a0called it ‘a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration and all of humanity’.<\/p>\n

This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths and took just 12.5 hours to compile, compared with the weeks it took predecessor Hubble to observe other ‘deep fields’ \u2013 images of a portion of the sky taken with a very long exposure time.<\/p>\n

According to NASA, SMACS 0723 has a gravitational pull\u00a0so powerful that it warps both space-time and the path that light subsequently travels through it.<\/p>\n

By studying this light, scientists want to learn about the origins of the cosmos, and possibly even catch a glimpse of the elusive photons that came from the very first stars to ever exist.<\/p>\n

NASA said Webb’s NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus in the new image \u2014 they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.<\/p>\n

‘If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length. That’s what you’re seeing, just one little speck, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson.<\/p>\n

‘You’re seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies who’s light has been bent and you’re seeing just a small little portion of the universe.<\/p>\n

‘We’re looking back more than 13 billion years. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second \u2014 that light that you’re seeing on one of those little specks has been traveling for 13 billion years.<\/p>\n

‘By the way, we’re going further.<\/p>\n

‘Since we know the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we’re going back almost to the beginning.’<\/p>\n

Nelson said the $10 billion (\u00a37.4 billion) observatory is so precise that scientists will be able to see whether or not planets in other galaxies are habitable \u2014 so whether or not they can host life, possibly like on Earth.<\/p>\n

\n